When I was young, drawing and painting were not encouraged. My parents didn’t go to College, they wanted “better” for their children. Anything to do with art was frivolous, would get us “no where.” Focus on studying to get a “real job,” they said. We had to support ourselves. It’s a tough world out there. Sound familiar?
Fast forward, zillions of years later…
I decided — it’s time to have fun! Treat myself to an illustration class, see what it is all about. Is it true that I have no artistic abilities? I needed to find out.
I was AFRAID, none of us want to embarrass ourselves with the worst drawing ever.
What have I learned? First, drawing can be done anywhere and it is fun! Artists practice, a lot. The more you practice, the better you become. I had no idea. This sounds silly, I know, but I thought being an artist was EASY. It’s actually hard work! Second, being an artist takes determination and dedication. To be good at anything, we need to be passionate and put the time in to practice.
I’m sharing some of my sketches with you.
Last year, I was on the train in Italy. I noticed a woman writing in her journal the entire hour. I thought how dedicated she was. When I got up to leave, I walked by her. Guess what, she wasn’t writing, she was sketching a portrait of a man on the train — unknown to him. It looked beautiful.
Yes, practice makes perfect. My instructor said, “Everyday, you must sketch. As you sketch, you become faster at sketching anything (draw the perfect circle, the perfectly straight line, arms, hands, cars, houses, etc.). Through practice and mistakes, a head that seems too large, might turn out to be your nutty professor.
That is the beauty of art, what seems like a mistake, might be your next masterpiece!
Next, painting with watercolors.
Art, any form of it, does make us HAPPY!
This is the just the beginning…
Brilliant Viewpoint 
Art is a great way to build confidence. Congratulations trying something new.
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Thank you, geared toward children’s book characters. It is fun.
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My mother took a couple of basic college art courses at age 50 which dealt with basics like color mixing, (empty nest syndrome), painted occasionally, one or two paintings per year, over the years, some years none, then at age 87 when she gave up driving, she started painting again full time. At age 90 I entered her into a contest for local artists at prestigious provincial art gallery (they seldom show anyone unless they’re famous or dead or have an art degree), and she was one of 3 selected to have her own show. This opened the door to more exhibits. She paints a lot, usually 1 or 2 paintings a week. She enjoys it, its her bliss time. I’ve had several artists tell me she gives them inspiration that exciting things can happen even when you are older. I’ve tried painting, but it’s not for me, I sit with clenched jaw, it’s not relaxing at all. Good luck! Some of my artists friends tell me there are lots of youtube videos online with painting/drawing instruction.
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This is such a FABULOUS story! THANK YOU for sharing it with me (us). It’s always an inspiration to find out that even in our 80s/90s we can be inventing ourselves. Your Mom is wonderful! :> Now, what will you do when you are in your 80s? 🙂
Oh, and thanks for the reminder about YouTube videos, I will do some searches.
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The thing about living to be 93 is that by then most of your friends have died, but my mother now has this great group of new art friends who have adopted her. One of them who is 66yr is learning to paint, and told me about the youtube videos, she belongs to a painting group also, so the videos are great if you don’t have a personal instructor or just want to pick up new ideas. I have also seen her post links to them on Facebook.
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Ok, thank you!
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PS. in my 80/90’s I hope to be writing murder mysteries a la Mary Higgins Clark who I believe is still going strong at 90 plus – that was one of my New Years Resolutions, so I did a 20 page plot outline in Feb when we had several big snowstorms and haven’t touched it since. The weather is getting nicer and I want to be outside. I think if I could get started I could get into it, but plotting it was harder than I thought.
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Oh, great idea! I agree, writing is fun, but also hard work, especially if you are writing a novel. Wonderful goal to have!
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Thanks. I’ve been trying to sketch. You’ve helped a lot! 🙂
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